My aunt Florence got on a pastitsio kick at some point in her life…probably right about when she was the age I am now, so, about 42. I always liked it and like Greek food in general. It’s like a greek lasagna. The most recent Cook’s Complicated, uh, Illustrated had a superlatively complicated recipe for it. But you know, complications are a way of life around here and I just had to make it. How often does a recipe call for cooking the pasta in sauce rather than in water. I like to do that and loved that they suggested it. The meat sauce though, called for baking soda which made the sauce more like paste than meat sauce. I like it chunkier. I had to run all over hell and back to find the damn cheese, kasseri, but I think it was worth it.
In the end it was really fabulous even if it was more work than making bread.
